Obama to honour Mandela in rare speech

JOHANNESBURG — In a speech marking the 100th birthday of anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela, former U.S. president Barack Obama will urge youth around the world to work for human rights and fair societies, highlighting the late South African leader’s example of persevering in the struggle for democracy and equal rights for all.

The speech on Tuesday, one of Obama’s most high-profile since leaving office, is meant to draw attention to values that today are under threat and to rally people in Africa and elsewhere to push for tolerance and justice. Obama is not expected to make any mention of his successor, President Donald Trump, said Ben Rhodes, Obama’s longtime aide and adviser.

“At the current moment we’re in, values that we thought were well-established — the importance of human rights, respect for diversity — in many parts of the world those values are under threat,” Rhodes told the Associated Press. “Mandela’s life is an inspiring example of how we can overcome obstacles to promote inclusive democracy and an equitable society with tolerance of others.”

In delivering the annual Nelson Mandela Lecture before thousands of South Africans, Obama is expected to highlight how the Nobel Peace Prize winner, who was imprisoned for 27 years, kept up his campaign against what appeared to be insurmountable odds to end apartheid, South Africa’s harsh system of white minority rule.

Mandela, who was released from prison in 1990 and became South Africa’s first black president four years later, died in 2013, leaving a powerful legacy of reconciliation and diversity along with a resistance to inequality, economic and otherwise.

“In the U.S. and around the world, many see recent developments that run counter to Mandela’s legacy,” Rhodes said. “This will be a globally minded speech, highlighting global trends and focusing on how, in his life, Mandela embodied perseverance. It will be aimed at young people in Africa and also around the world to show that we have been through darker times before and we can overcome these challenges to keep Mandela’s vision alive.”

Obama, who is in Kenya before coming to South Africa, has shied away from public comment on Trump, whose administration has reversed or attacked notable achievements of his predecessor. The U.S. under Trump has withdrawn from the 2015 Paris climate agreement and the Iran nuclear deal while trying to undercut the Affordable Care Act or “Obamacare.”

Instead of commenting on politics, Obama’s speech will draw on broader themes and his admiration for Mandela, whom America’s first black president saw as a mentor.